Ultimate California Wine Blog

Sharing a parking lot with nearby gourmet grocery store Dean & DeLuca is Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards. A family-owned endeavor, the name Flora is derived from Flora Komes, the matriarch who, along with husband, Jerry, purchased a vineyard as a retirement project. Their children got involved, hired winemaker Ken Deis and a legacy was born. Deis was winemaker for almost 20 years, but since 2008, Ken’s assistant, Paul Steinauer, took over the reins. I am always drawn to Flora Springs for its stylistic architecture, fluid and organic, it is reminiscent of a hobbit’s hovel; warm and whimsical. This is a juxtaposition to the tasting room’s interior, which is also fluid and organic, but elegant and understated. The long tasting bar flows and twists from one end of the room to the other, but created from the same wooden slats and brass strips used in the creation of wine barrels so that the illusion of the barrel is carried throughout the space.

I love the feel of the place and know they produce a number of specialty wines which were not made available to me on my visit. Their standard pours are decent enough for daily drinkers, but I have a feeling the single vineyard productions are the wines worth tasting. Considering the crowds this tasting room sees because of the grocery store overflow, it isn’t surprising they can’t accommodate every person who might be interested in their better quality vintages, but perhaps an appointment to taste would be worth trying for in the future.

2009 Pinot Grigio -Pale and easy-drinking with faint hints of clean tropical fruit upon the entry, but deepens a bit on the finish to produce white stone fruit. Slightly creamy, but mostly bright and engaging.

2007 Merlot – Slightly harsh, sharp entry, the ample berry fruit rounds out and softens to produce a spicy core.

2007  Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon -Big, ample nose of dark cherry which continues with the ample mouth entry of dark, red fruit. A core of dusty herb and cocoa hits the center palate which finishes with touches of soft wood and tobacco.

Flora Springs Winery
1978 West Zinfandel Lane
St. Helena, 94574
707.963.5711

One of the special surprises that came about from the Rhone Rangers event was meeting Shane of Shane Wine Cellars. I had been out of the loop on up-and-coming producers and Shane was an entirely new name for me. Gregarious and Falstaffian in demeanor, Shane Finley told me that he moved to California from New York in 2001 after obtaining a graduate degree in English! Working at Copain provided Shane with an early inclination towards the production of fabulous Rhone varietals.

Now an associate winemaker at Kosta Browne, he is producing exceptional Pinot Noir. Shane Wines is his own side project and gives him the opportunity to produce just 700 cases of Syrah. Currently,  he is selling about half of his production to a mailing list and the remainder at finer restaurants around California.  This is a producer I am looking forward to following as the wines shows tremendous promise, as greatness is already being tasted.

2009 Rosé, Ma Fille, Sonoma County, $15 – Smooth and easy drinking, this rosé of Syrah shows bright engaging flavors of clean refreshing red summer fruit with herbal hints that showed tight integration. There is not too much acidity and I appreciated the long finish, reminiscent of juicy watermelon and strawberries.

2008 Syrah, The Unknown, North Coast, $38 – A dark, inky wine, the grapes came from “unknown vineyard.” The entry was smooth and depicted the classic blackberry, black plum, blossoming with textures of dark chocolate. The finish was tight — this is a wine I would like to taste in a few years as I could sense potential expansion of the palate.

2008 Syrah, The Judge, Mendocino Coast, $38 – Rich and complex, dark and jammy fruit entered the mouth with a distinctive mid-palate of rose petals and elegant dried sage. The finish lingered with balanced tobacco and black plum.

Shane Wine Cellars
P.O. Box 533
Novato, CA 94948
415.342.7926